Located near Kitchener’s Victoria Park (est. 1896) Joseph Street entrance, the clock tower once surmounted Kitchener’s impressive Beaux-Arts city hall (1924-1973). Dismantled during the city hall’s controversial demolition, it was stored in a city lot for twenty years until rebuilt as a federally-funded retraining initiative with the support of the Waterloo, Wellington, Dufferin and Grey Building and Construction Trades Council and Conestoga College. Kitchener Mayor Richard Christy unveiled the iconic clock tower on July 1, 1995.

A stone-lined pool featuring Ernest Daetwyler’s 2008 public artwork, ‘The Luggage Project’, is located beside the tower’s plinth.

Located at the public square at King Street East and Frederick Street, the old city hall was designed by architects William Herbert Eugene (W.H.E.) Schmalz (1890-1981) and Bernal Ambrose (B.A.) Jones (1980-1959). Mr. Schmalz was the son of William H. Schmalz, Berlin (Kitchener after 1916) mayor and manager of the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company, for which W.H.E. Schmalz and Charles Knechtel (1869-1951) designed the 1916 Beaux-Arts headquarters (located at 10 Duke Street W, Kitchener). Local historian rych mills notes that the clock tower was a late addition.

Two wall-mounted panels beneath an old city hall lintel explain its history:

“This clock tower, originally built in 1924, adorned Kitchener City Hall for 48 years. It was dismantled in 1973 and stored until restoration was made possible by community funding and the volunteer efforts of regional craftsmen in partnership with a college training program. The reconstructed clock tower was officially dedicated on July 1, 1995 on behalf of the citizens of Kitchener.”

“On July 1, 1995, His Worship Mayor Richard D. Christy and Mr. Herb Schmalz rang the bell of the reconstructed 1924 city hall clock tower in the presence of the citizens of Kitchener and members of council. Councillor Geoff Lorentz was master of ceremony. The lintel above was originally mounted in the former city hall and carries the city's motto which translates "prosperity through industry".”

For additional history, see rych mills' “Kitchener City Hall: 50 years of life, then 50 years a memory” (Waterloo Region Record, July 1, 2022).

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